PRACTICALLY the entire population of Westmeath are reportedly travelling to Sunday’s Leinster SFC decider, but the wider expectation is that, once again, Dublin will come home with the Delaney Cup.
It will be Dublin and Westmeath’s 16th championship match, with the score currently standing at 13-3 in Dublin’s favour. Moreover, the Dubs have won the provincial championship at a canter for four years running, and only for a remarkable defeat to Meath in 2010’s semi-final would in all likelihood be going for their eleventh Leinster in a row.
The dramatic nature of their defensive collapse that day instigated a remarkable turnaround in Dublin’s fortunes at All-Ireland level after Pat Gilroy decided to follow the counter-attacking blueprint set by Tyrone and Armagh in the noughties.
Five years on, it is again Dublin’s defensive strategy that will probably dictate how far they go this year. After a swashbuckling All-Ireland victory in 2013 under the current management of Jim Gavin, Dublin’s defence again came under scrutiny after they were destroyed on the counter by Donegal in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
Not surprisingly, Gavin has made a number of adjustments in response to last year’s shock defeat – Cian O’Sullivan has reverted from his midfield role to sweeper, and on opposition kick-outs the Dubs bring men back to protect their vulnerable full-back line. This seems like the logical response to their defence parting like the red sea when faced by the Donegal attack, but it remains to be seen whether Gavin's tweaking will lead to Dublin taking their third All-Ireland this decade.
In attack, Dublin have looked as effervescent as ever – they accrued 4-25 against Longford, and followed that up with 5-18 against Kildare. Bernard Brogan has looked sharp, and Ciaran Kilkenny is showing no signs of long-term damage from last year's cruciate ligament injury, with four points scored against the Lilywhites. Attack-minded defender, Jack McCaffrey looks a different player to the one who suffered a dip in form last year. The 20-year-old was Dublin’s third highest scorer in the national league, with a tally of 1-6 to his name.
This isn’t to mention the mercurial Diarmuid Connolly. After missing the Longford match, he came in against Kildare and helped himself to 2-03. One of the only Dublin players to emerge with credit from last year’s Donegal disaster, the St Vincent’s man is close-to-unmarkable when on form. And if things aren’t going Dublin’s way, Gavin can also turn to his talent-laden subs bench.
So on paper the hype that has engulfed the Lake County seems a tad optimistic, but neither is it unexpected, being Westmeath’s fourth-ever appearance in the Leinster Cup final. With their last appearance came their solitary provincial title, when they saw off Laois in a sun-kissed replay in 2004.
Since that day Westmeath have struggled to make an impact in the championship, despite having had some of the best players of the last decade, such as Dessie Dolan, Denis Glennon and 2008 All-Star cornerback John Keane. Glennon is the only survivor from the 2015 team, and came on as a sub in their victory over Meath in this year’s semi-final.
That success was Westmeath’s first ever win against the Royals in the championship, and was made even more noteworthy by the fact that they overcame a ten-point deficit to win by four. Cribben has made only one change for tomorrow’s match – John Connellan has come in after impressing when brought on against Meath.
He has also made a number of positional switches, with Denis Corroon moving into midfield from right half-forward, and Paul Sharry starting at centre half-forward. Cribben will look to the likes of John Heslin, who tallied 1-9 against Meath (1-3 from play) and Kieran Martin who scored 2-3 after being moved to the square from his usual centre-half back position.
It remains to be seen whether the Meath result was a freak, due more to the Royal's weaknesses than anything else. Westmeath were relegated to Division 3 in the spring and Cribbin strongly questioned his players after the drop, but there has been an undoubted improvement – in their three championship matches to date they scored 3-14, 1-21 and 3-19.
However, if they are to have any hope of matching Dublin, it’ll likely come via the right defensive strategy – Derry showed in the national league clash against the Dubs this year that the likes of Bernard Brogan and Connolly can still be shackled with the right tactics but ultimately it is unlikely that Westmeath can hold back the Dublin deluge for the entire 70 minutes.
